Joe Osborn 4 / Darryl Jones 5

real bassists only need one instrument

sell those Laklands and buy a Wishbass

I had a plan in place that I thought would make for a versatile lineup of basses. Now I'm rethinking things and considering my options. I'll lay out my needs first, then the original plan, followed by my new thoughts.

I usually gig with a fretless and a fretted bass. I recently bought a Joe Osborn Lakland and it's become my #1 fretted bass. I'm sticking with my current fretless, and have been considering adding a second fretted bass to alternate on different sets. I'd like to have one fretted bass strung with rounds, and the other with flats.

Plan #1 was to buy a Lakland Darryl Jones 4 string and leave it strung with roundwounds, and play it on the rock/dance tunes. String the Joe Osborn with flats and use it on the motown and blues stuff. There are a couple problems with this so far. First is that I totally love the JO bass and am not sure that I would want to have another 4 string to compete with it. Second is that the wait for the DJ is pretty long. Thirdly, the JO sounds soooooo good with roundwounds that I am not sure if I want to change it.

Plan #2 has been formed as buying a DJ 5 string to use as the "roundwound" bass. That way, it won't "compete" with the 4 string JO. Even though I've never owned a 5 string, I have played a few 55-02's and love the feel. The main problem with this option is that any tunes requiring the roundwound sound will dictate that I use the 5 string. A secondary issue is the different scale length and feel of switching instruments between sets.

So, what wisdom can you guys impart? Would it be tough to switch between the 4 and 5 strings in the same night? Which option would you choose?

One thing to keep in mind is scale length. While it took very little time at all for me to adjust to five strings (I started by using the B as a thumbrest), the 35" scale took a little getting used to. I'm comfortable with it now, though when I switch back to a 34" scale it takes a few minutes to get comfortable. Could be a problem in switching in the middle of a gig, or maybe not a problem for you at all . . .

Personally, I love 5 strings. Having played 4-bangers for nearly 20 years prior to last year, I can now say that I definitely prefer 5 strings to four because of the flexibility of being able to play higher up the neck, etc.

If it were me, I'd get a 5-string DJ and string it with roundwounds, then slap some good flats on the JO. Then you'd have two great basses, each with a completely different vibe. Plus, you'd get to try out a 5-string. If you get the 5-string used, you could give it a whirl and be out very little money (except shipping) if it wasn't your thing -- plus, you might not have as long a wait as if you order from Lakland.

If it were me, I'd get a 5-string DJ and string it with roundwounds, then slap some good flats on the JO. Then you'd have two great basses, each with a completely different vibe. Plus, you'd get to try out a 5-string.

Click to expand...

I like the way you think. I just laid down the ol' Visa for a Lake Placid Blue Darryl Jones 5 string. The plan is to keep it strung with roundwounds and move to flats on the JO4. This is the first foray into the 5 string world for me, but I've played around with a few 5-ers at music shops and think it'll be a great learning experience.